Top 10 Tools for Making Your Own Video Game

May 13, 2020 , You Jing Ng

Looking to design your very own video game? You can find a wide array of tools to help you design video games and most of it is free to use! Some of them do not require programming or coding skills to know how to use them. That being said, it does not mean that game development is straightforward. Let’s check out some of the best engines that you can choose to develop your video game.

Developed by Degica, VN Maker is a commercial game engine designed for creating visual novels without requiring its users to know how to program. The game engine is available for Windows, macOS and Linux users. The VN Maker uses Javascript and Coffeescript as its main programming language. To purchase the VN Maker head over to this link. There is even a free guide for new users to learn the basics of the editor, story structure, customizing visual novel without scripting and a complete guide on scripting plus documentation.

Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine is a cross-platform commercial game engine that has been successfully used in a wide variety of game genres which includes platformers, fighting games, MMORPGs and more. The game engine is only available for Windows users. Unreal Engine uses Blueprints Visual Scripting and C++ as its main programming language. It can be downloaded for free, with its source code available on GitHub, but with a 5% royalty owed on the game’s gross revenue over $3,000 per game per quarter. You can get access to many online video courses for free which covers basic aspects to using the engine’s editor and some advanced programs on post-processing effects and creating asset pipelines.

Developed by Unity Technologies, Unity is a cross-platform commercial game engine that has seen support for more than 25 platforms. It is widely used to develop 3D, 2D, virtual reality(VR) and augmented reality(AR) games as well as simulations. The game engine is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux users. Unity uses C# as its main programming language. For personal use, you can have full access to Unity for free whereas businesses can acquire it for $40 paid monthly or $399 prepaid. There are some free resources available to those who are new to the Unity engine. Unity Learn Premium program is also available which includes classes, tutorials and certification which is available for free until June 10th 2020.

Developed by Chris Klimas, Twine is a free and open-source editor for interactive storytelling fiction and text-based games. The engine is available for Windows, macOS and web users. Twine uses a proprietary markup language but also allows HTML, Javascript and CSS as its programming language. You can get full access to Twine for free and there is also a guide that covers the basics of their markup language and offers various samples of advanced scripting.

Developed by Degica, RPG Maker is a commercial game engine with hundreds of games created and released on Steam(video game digital distribution service) every year. The engine is only available for Windows and macOS users. RPG Maker uses JavaScript as its main programming language and mainly used for creating role-playing video games. You can access free trials for the program up to 30 days or you can purchase the latest version for $79.99. If you are looking for guides and tutorials, definitely check out Nick_Degica’s Guides on RPG Maker MV Quickstart. You can also find tutorials for RPG Maker VX Ace on the official page.

Developed by Tom “PyTom” Rothamel, Ren’PY is a free software engine that helps with the creation of visual novels, a form of computer-mediated storytelling. The engine is available for Windows, macOS and Linux users. Ren’PY uses Cython and Python as its main programming language. It’s also an open-source engine and free for commercial use. You can find text-based guides on how to make a simple game with Ren’PY on their official website.

Developed by Amazon Game Tech, Lumberyard is a free cross-platform game engine which is based on the CryEngine version. The engine allows developers to build or host their games on Amazon’s servers as well as support for live streaming services. The engine is available only for Windows users. Amazon Lumberyard uses C++ and Lua as its main programming language. The source code of the engine is freely available for download under proprietary license via GitHub. You can find plenty of tutorial videos and video talks in the engine for free. You can also find a basic tutorial on how to get started at their official page.

Originally started by Juan ‘reduz’ Linietsky and Ariel ‘punto’ Manzur, Godot is a 2D and 3D, cross-platform, free and open-source game engine. The engine is available for Windows, macOS and Linux users. Godot uses C and C++ as its main programming language, it’s also completely free to use under the very permissive MIT license. You can find all the step-by-step guides on how to use the engine on their official website which covers areas on VR, 2D animation and more.

Developed by Crytek, CryEngine is a game engine that was first used for the first-person shooter video game Far Cry. Over time the engine has seen many uses for third-party games under Crytek’s licensing schemes. The engine is available only for Windows users. CryEngine uses C++, Lua and C# as its main programming language. There is a 5% royalty fee if your project earns over $5,000 in a year. Free tutorial videos are available on their official website which covers the step-by-step process of installing the editor to complex configuration for the engine.

Developed by YoYoGames, GameMaker is a series of cross-platform game engines which accommodates the development of multi-genre video games. The engine is available for Windows and macOS users. GameMaker uses C++ and C# as its main programming language. A free trial version is available for 30 days or you can choose to purchase the license for $39/year. You can find written and video guides on the basics as well as more in-depth tutorials on how to develop specific genres of games.

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You Jing is a content writer who writes career and lifestyle contents to inspire job seekers and employers alike on their journey to work-life balance, empowerment and transformation in their career path.